As part of its research project on the problems of plastic objects, the Getty Conservation Institute is working with the Disney Animation Research Library (ARL) on a study of the ARL's animation cel collection. The collection provides a unique and invaluable source of cellulose nitrate and cellulose acetate, two classes of plastic particularly vulnerable to deterioration.

Starting in 2000, the GCI worked to lay the groundwork for a citywide survey in Los Angeles as part of its Los Angeles Historic Resource Survey Project. The project—renamed SurveyLA—has now migrated to the Office of Historic Resources (OHR) in the Department of City Planning of Los Angeles. In 2009 the OHR completed three pilot surveys and is about to launch historic resources surveys in eleven communities throughout the city.

The GCI has begun a project to advance the ability of heritage professionals to constructively engage with stakeholders by bridging conservation and public dispute resolution practices. In December 2009 the GCI hosted, with the assistance of the Consensus Building Institute, a workshop that explored the application of consensus building, negotiation, and conflict resolution concepts and strategies to the conservation and management of heritage places.

The GCI has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to support the purchase of a mapping micro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. This instrument will significantly enhance the ability of GCI scientists to contribute to an understanding of artist's materials and methods and to assist conservators in developing long-term preservation strategies.

The GCI's ARTAX micro-XRF spectrometer acquiring element maps from figures in the Chiarito Tabernacle, in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Photo: Karen Trentelman

P U B L I C A T I O N S

Archaeological Sites in the Maya Area: A Conservation Challenge

Proceedings of the XXII Symposium of Archaeological Investigations in Guatemala.

This publication constitutes an important step in the research, conservation, and use of archaeological heritage, as it reflects on the ways different disciplines collaborate, and on the importance of sustainability for site conservation and management.

The complete proceedings are available online in Spanish,
with an English summary.

The Nature of Conservation: A Race Against Time

By Philip Ward

This classic work explains the place of conservation and restoration in museums. Long out of print, it is now being published online by the GCI.

In the 1990s, the GCI initiated a series of projects that encouraged young people to document through photographs those things they considered landmarks in their community. This out of print manual—now available as a PDF—presents a practical method for creating these landmark projects.

Recently acquired titles in the Conservation Collection in the Research Library at the Getty Research Institute are available to readers on site at the Getty Center. Some materials are available through your library's interlibrary loan service.

GCI Mission Statement
The Getty Conservation Institute works to advance conservation practice in the visual arts, broadly interpreted to include objects, collections, architecture, and sites. It serves the conservation community through scientific research, education and training, model field projects, and the broad dissemination of the results of both its own work and the work of others in the field. In all its endeavors, the Conservation Institute focuses on the creation and dissemination of knowledge that will benefit the professionals and organizations responsible for the conservation of the world's cultural heritage.

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The GCI e-Bulletin is published electronically six times a year to keep partners and supporters up-to-date with GCI programs and activities.